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2014 Press Release - Nike Pre-Nationals

Published by
Nike Portland XC   Sep 19th 2014, 11:33pm
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2014 Press Release - Nike Pre-Nationals PDF Posted 09/19/2014 (223 downloads)

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Ken Martinez, Aloha High School
Head Cross Country Coach
(503) 544-6111 / [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NIKE PRE-NATIONALS AT PORTLAND MEADOWS
HOSTED BY ALOHA HIGH SCHOOL

- Major Invitational Cross Country Meet to Take Place on
Saturday, September 27, 2014 -

BEAVERTON, Oregon (September 19, 2014) Aloha High School will be hosting the 35th annual Nike Pre-Nationals Cross Country Meet at Portland Meadows in North Portland. The Nike Pre-Nationals Meet is one of the premier cross country meets on the west coast with teams coming from eight states and one team from Shanghai, China. Over 120 teams with over 4,000 athletes will participate at the meet. There will be 17 different races including four divisions of boys and girls varsity races. The top varsity race for the boys and girls is the Jim Danner Championship where 25 of the top teams and individual athletes in the region, West Coast, and USA will compete. The course is very similar to the Nike Cross National course at which top programs from across the country are invited to compete in December. The course is fast, challenging, and easily viewable for its entire length.

The Nike Pre-National Meet will begin at 8:00 AM on Saturday, September 27 with an open Citizens race followed by 3000 meter middle school boys race and girls race. High School races will begin at 9:15 AM with the Division 3 Varsity Girls race. Gates will open at 7:00 AM and there is an entrance fee of $5.00.

We are very excited to announce that many nationally ranked teams and individuals are coming to race at the Nike Pre-Nationals Cross Country meet this year.” said Aloha Head Cross Country Coach Ken Martinez. “This meet is an amazing opportunity to watch top programs and athletes compete head to head early in the cross country season. We expect a very competitive team competition in the Jim Danner Championship races which are shaping up to be stacked with top programs and amazing athletes from the West Coast and other States. It will be an exciting day of racing which will have an influence on the national rankings of the competing teams and individuals. Team and individual titles are wide open.

While the entries in the varsity races have not yet been finalized, the Jim Danner Championship races for both boys and girls are expected to be very close in the team races and for individual honors. The Jim Danner Championship Boys race is deep with experienced teams and exciting individual performers. Central Catholic (Portland) is ranked the highest at No. 4 in the Nation by DyeStat thus earning the pre- meet favorite title. However, there are several teams who can take the title and re-order DyeStat’s national rankings. The 2013 Nike Cross National champion Gig Harbor (WA) and currently ranked by DyeStat as the No. 24 team in the Nation returns to defend their Danner team title. Challenging Central Catholic and Gig Harbor are two premier California programs. A new team to the Nike Pre-Nationals which is a perennial nationally ranked program is Great Oak (Temecula, CA). Great Oak is currently ranked No. 13 in the Nation and No. 1 in California by DyeStat. Warren HS (Downey, CA) returns to the Nike Pre-Nationals with a very strong team which is ranked No. 17 in the Nation and No. 3 in California by DyeStat. No. 28 ranked Summit HS (Bend, OR) led by the outstanding Matthew Maton will certainly make a challenge in the team race. Joining these teams in making a bid for the team championship include Rancho Cucamonga (CA), McFarland (CA), and Palos Verdes (CA).

The pre-meet favorite for individual honors is Matthew Maton, a senior who leads Summit (Bend) and is currently ranked as the No. 2 individual runner in the Nation by DyeStat and was selected with nine (9) other boys from across the nation to participate in the Nike Elite high school camp this summer. Matthew is the defending individual Danner champion where he put in a dominating performance in challenging conditions. However, Matthew will be challenged by other DyeStat nationally ranked runners in the Danner Championship led by Tristan Peloquin of Gig Harbor ranked as the No. 24 runner in the Nation. Reilly Bloomer of South Eugene (OR), ranked No. 34; Nick Doan of Great Oak, ranked No. 49; Benjamin Gonzales of Warren, ranked No. 55; Michael Slagowski Rocky Mountain (Meridian, ID), ranked No. 64; Sam Truax of Central Catholic, ranked No. 80; and Andres Barragan, Warren, ranked No. 100 will all be in the lead pack.

The team race in Girl’s Jim Danner Championship will be a wide open affair with many outstanding programs. There promises to be great fireworks for the team championship with two of the nation’s top teams going head to head. As ranked by DyeStat, the No. 3 team, Great Oak (Temecula, CA) and the No. 5 team, Desert Vista (Phoenix, AZ) will be battling each other as pre-meet favorites. However, Oakton (Vienna, VA) is ranked No. 26 and is travelling west to challenge the west coast elite teams. Joining Oakton and other ranked teams, 2010 and 2011 Danner Champions No. 28 Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, CA); defending champions No. 36 Arroyo Grande (CA); No. 56 Jesuit (Beaverton, OR); No. 58 Palos Verdes (CA); No. 75 Summit (Bend, OR); and No. 77 South Eugene (OR). Looking to support a claim to be included as a nationally ranked squad are the defending Oregon XC State Champions Sunset HS (Beaverton, OR). This race will be a great preview of the Nike Cross Nationals where several of these teams have a legitimate shot at qualifying for that race.

The Girl’s race for individual honors should be closely contested between two pre-eminent runners. Destiny Collins of Great Oak (CA) is ranked as the No. 17 runner in the Nation by DyeStat. Destiny is looking to use this meet as a coming out party on the national level. Destiny will be closely matched by the No. 24 ranked runner Danielle Jones of Desert Vista (AZ). Joining these runners are other nationally ranked runners including No. 48 Amber Gore of Redondo Union (CA), No. 69 Sara Tsai of South Eugene (OR) who is looking to reclaim her dominant form after suffering through a series of injuries over the past two seasons, and No. 72 Brenna Peloquin of Gig Harbor (WA).

For more information about the Nike Pre-National Cross Country meet, please visit www.NikePreNationals.runnerspace.com.

ABOUT THE NIKE PRE-NATIONAL MEET

The Nike Pre-National Meet was first run in 2007 at Portland Meadows. Before 2007, the meet was known as the Jim Danner Memorial Invitational and was first run in 1980 at venues across the greater Portland area. The Pre-National Meet is now held on the same course as the Nike Cross National Meet held every December for the top high school cross country programs and individual runners in the nation. The Pre- National meet was created in part to allow prospective qualifying teams and individuals to race the national championship course and to raise the regional and national image of the competing programs.

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